Who sits next to bride at reception?

Question

Who typically sits next to the bride at the reception? I'm figuring that it is the maid of honor, but I'm checking.

We are having a small (30 people) wedding, and I kind of wanted my mom to sit next to me during the reception. I feel rude telling my maid of honor this, because I think she is suppose to, and she's pretty much a "by-the-books" person.

Any suggestions? Thanks

Answer 1

http://www.bwedd.com/CEBride/CEBNewsletter_71.asp
Site above shows a couple of options.

But since it is a small wedding, maybe you can avoid the head table thing. I don't see why bride and groom couldn't have their parents sitting next to them. MOH and Best Man could sit across the table from them. That way they would still be nearby.

Answer 2

I think the books merely show guidelines to follow if you don't
have your own preferences. As the weddings I've either been
in or attended were all different. And a friend in Calif.sent me
pix of her wedding that were also different. At the head table
were the family of each wedding partner. His were to the left
of him, and hers were to the right of her. But she had her
step father to her immediate right,which I thought odd. And
her mom was on the other side. Maybe that was to have the
male, female thing going? I never have asked her on that.
There were two tables in front of the main table facing the
wedding table. One for the maid of honor and her children,
and the other directly across for the best mans family. Other
family members were at adjacent tables going further away
in the reception hall as to importance.
The standard way is with the bridal party at the head table.
I've found the MOH is to the brides right,and the bridesmaids
on down. And on the other side of the groom, it's his Best
Man. He's there to raise the first toast to the Bride and Groom, either before or after the cutting of the cake and
champagne. Or before everyone starts eating. There again,
I think it's a personal choice by the bridal couple and the BM.

Answer 3

The groom on her left side, the maid of honor on her right.

If your maid of honor is worthy of her title, she should understand that you want to have your mom sit beside you and be just fine with that. These days, less and less is done "by the books," and this at least makes plenty of sense.

Tell her that you don't want to hurt her feelings, or for her to take it negatively, but you'd really like to have your mom sit beside you at the reception. Other than that, she will do all the typical "maid of honor" stuff, like giving a toast, etc.

There are two alternatives that might eliminate the problem, but I don't know how far involved you are in the planning.

If you served a light buffet with hors d'eourves, technically, you wouldn't need an actual head table with assigned seating.

I've also seen where the bride and groom are actually at a small table by themselves for a sit down dinner. It's not like it's off to the side where they're off in their own little world, but close to the actual "head table" there is a small table, and that's where they sit together.

But it should be enough for you to say you'd like to have your mother sit with you. If she's even a remotely decent maid of honor, she'll accept your wishes gracefully.

Answer 4

We had a small wedding (16 people total), and my stepmother sat next to me. I had such a good time sitting next to her, because she was so excited about the wedding and reception.

My maid of honor ended up sitting at another table with a group of the younger people that attended, and she had a great time. I don´t even think we thought about where she was going to sit-we just played it by ear.

I would say that you should sit by your mom-she is the mother of the bride, and I would say she has presidence-I have no idea how to spell this word-over the maid of honor.

Answer 5

A maid of honor that can't understand why you would like your mom sitting next to you would not be a great maid of honor to begin with. Its your wedding and forget the books, you do it your way. If I were you I wouldnt even mention it to your maid of honor as an issue...just show her a sketch of where everyone would be sitting at the head table and go from there.

Answer 6

In all the books I've read, the bride sits between the best man and her new husband. But if you want your mum to, that's fine, plus you don't have to offend your maid of honor either!

Answer 7

Typically, the maid of honor, but if you want your mom to sit by you, by all means have your mom sit by you. That is a very sweet gesture, and it is your day, do it your way!! Best wishes!

Answer 8

If she is so "by the books" then she would know your table traditionally looks like this

this is your head table, parents don't sit there they sit at a table near the head table. it goes boy/girl in order of "importance".

GM BM Bestman Bride Groom MOH GM BM

you can do whatever you want though. sit by your mom. sit her right next to your mom. just say, my mom helped me a lot with the wedding and i have decided that she is going to sit next to me so i can honor her and you're going to sit right next to her because you've helped me a lot too. or some more eloquent version of that.

Answer 9

I think it's the groom. :-)

Yes, it would be the maid of honor. The parents don't sit at the head table, only the wedding party does.

Answer 10

um... the groom. I haven't seen a dais in like 10+ years. Usually the bride and groom have a small table for themselves and then you seat family and friends accordingly. I didn't even seat my bridal party together because they really didn't know each other. I sat them with people they knew and would be comfortable with. The same with the parents - groom's parents had family and close friends, and so did mine.